Probs with the BIOS....

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July 13th, 2003, 11:57 AM
Deathkne11

Probs with the BIOS....

First off - Thank you for reading this and (hopefully) helping me.

Now onto the problem at hand...

I had, in the past, done a rather......daft thing. You see, I put a password on my BIOS. Now the BIOS not being a part of the PC that a newbie such as myself would access often, if at all, when I wanted to have a look at some of the things I had been learning about, I found that I had forgotten the password (yes, yes. I know :spank: ).

My memory has improved now (being really 'into' this sorta stuff now) and I managed to recall it after entering everything that I could possibly imagine it could be. The problem is this: I will firstly outline what the 'main' screen says, then explain as I go.

CMOS SETUP UTILITY - 1982-2002. Award Software

(down the left column)

> Standard CMOS Features
> Advanced BIOS Options
> Integrated Peripherals
> Power Management
> PnP/PCI Configurations
> PC Health Status
> Frequency/Voltage Control

Now, when I go into any of these options above, nothing is 'selectable'. You can enter the different sections - It's all there and looks the way I vaguely remembered it - but I can't change any settings. They're all 'greyed out'. Now, back to the main screen, the options on the right being

> Top Performance
> Load Fail-Safe Defaults
> Load Optimized Defaults
> Set Supervisor Password

are all 'greyed out' as well. Bellow that are the

> Set User Password
> Save & Exit
> Exit Without Saving

options, which I can select.

I guess, after all that, my question is: WTF is going on??!! Why can't I select anything in any of the menus? The only thing that I can change is in: Advanced BIOS --> BOOT DEVICES.

Any assistance or ideas about what the hell it's doing (or what I've done to it *sigh*) would be greatly appreciated.

D.
July 13th, 2003, 12:02 PM
thehorse13

Sounds like you entered a supervisor password too. A quick and dirty way to fix all of this is to remove the CMOS battery for about 5 minutes, then pop it back in and reboot. See if you can change things. If not, take the battery out for a little longer. Oh yeah, be *sure* to remove the power cable during the time the CMOS battery is out. The idea is to wipe all passwords and set the BIOS back to the factory defaults. Removing all power from the box will clear the passwords (and any custom BIOS settings) and restore factory defaults.

This should work for you.

--TH13
July 13th, 2003, 12:03 PM
NullDevice

pls specify which BIOS are u using Award,Ami or any other...well with my BIOS i have two types of password and usually all have these....one is user level and other is admin level ...whereas admin level is totally free to do anything...the user can only view....
so may be u have put some setting wrong........
July 13th, 2003, 12:44 PM
Dark Phoen1x

Won't removing the battery erase all the data?
July 13th, 2003, 12:53 PM
Deathkne11

Re: Probs with the BIOS....

Quote:

Originally posted here by Deathkne11

CMOS SETUP UTILITY - 1982-2002. Award Software

NullDevice:

It's Award. I don't know what version it is, but maybe it's the 2002 one? I'm just guessing. But I DO KNOW it is Award.

I've checked out their website (there was a mention of BIOS stuff in one of the other threads - I did a search before I posted this :D), but I couldn't get anything that pertained to my problem.

I don't suppose they're too fond of giving away secrets on how to reset their passwords. LOL

TheHorse:

Thanks for that advice. I'll have to wait 'till tomorrow to try it. I'm no physically able to take my box apart - I'm in a wheelchair. I'll give a friend a call tomorrow and get him to help me do the 'hands-on' stuff.
July 13th, 2003, 04:06 PM
cheyenne1212

Yeah I agree with thehorse on this one. It sounds like you set up another passoword. One password allows you to enter the BIOS but will not allow you change anything, and the other lets you change everything.

When your friend does come over, just look for a little round battery sitting on the motherboard. Thats what you need to pull.
July 13th, 2003, 04:50 PM
Limpster

I may be wrong on this but wouldnt it be easier to just user the jumpers on the motherboard. Most mother boards have jumpers to reset the bios. Mine is in the bottom middle. Three pins.
July 13th, 2003, 05:00 PM
qwerty_smith

many ways to do this.

1. pull the cmos battery
2. pull the jumper, change to configure, reboot, change back to normal (look at mb manual)
3. disconnect power to motherboard (this might work, but capacitors can keep charge in for a while. try 48 hours....)
4. flash the bios
July 13th, 2003, 06:06 PM
Deathkne11

48hrs?! OMG!!!!

Quote:

Originally posted here by qwerty_smith

3. disconnect power to motherboard (this might work, but capacitors can keep charge in for a while. try 48 hours....)

48hrs w/o my PC? Damn, that's a tough one... :p

I'm like most of you ppl here. I practically live on my machine. Only leave it for the <ahem> necessary things.

Oh well, if it's the only way that it'll work - I guess it's worth it....

Thanks for your help, guys (and gals?). I feel kinda guilty - what with not contributing anything but 'point-of-view' type stuff. I don't know much technically yet. But I plan to stick around and persevere. I suppose that's how you ppl learnt....

L8R:hello:
D.
July 13th, 2003, 06:17 PM
Beryllium9

Look on your motherboard for 3-pin pumpers with caps connecting only 2 pins. Change the position of the cap, then put it back to it's original position. If you do this for all of them, you're bound to get the one that clears CMOS settings. If you got a jumperless board, you can still clear the settings instantly by removing the battery, and shorting the 2 terminals in the socket momentarily.

Normally though, what jumpers do is marked on the motherboard itself. Just look for any white writing that references jumpers until you find the name of the jumper you need to change. Then just locate the relevant one. Failing that, you could always download a copy of your motherboard's manual and see how to do it. :)
July 14th, 2003, 07:23 AM
Deathkne11

:dunce:

Ok, I thought I'd get back to you guys and provide you with a bit of a 'newbie laugh'.

Remember how I said that I had recovered my memory (my brain memory, not the 'puter)? Well I went into the BIOS again and had a fudgin' brainstorm! (yeah, right!)

I went into the

> Set User Passoword

and then pushed enter twice. It said: "Password Disabled" I said: "Hallaluja!!"

I then saved the CMOS and exited. I went back in just to see if it worked, and - presto - things are now 'changeable'!

Remember, I'm still learning...

Thanks for all your help anyways, it got me thinking (I know, I should have been from the start....sheesh), and provided me with some suggestions. That's Tops!!

L8R:hello:
D.
July 14th, 2003, 07:29 PM
Tedob1

pull the power cord, remove the batter, go get something to drink and be done with it already.
TH13 gave you the answer.

some momboards have a single pair of jumper pins (marked j29 i think) which you have to short but you should check the manual first (after you find it). so much trouble just take the juice away for awhile and let it reset itself
July 14th, 2003, 07:39 PM
Deathkne11

Tedob1: Nah, I don't have to now. I fixed it without having to do that - although it was my next step to do so.
July 14th, 2003, 07:43 PM
RoadClosed

Quote:

Won't removing the battery erase all the data?

Yes it will, your computer is now a washing machine... :)

... that is until you go into the bios setup and it re-reads all of the I/Os on the motherboard. Older BIOS's will force you to manually enter things like "I have a floppy connected, here - A hard drive on IDE 0, etc. New one's read it all nice and neat.